Wizards are now well known in the computer user environment. Broadly stated, a wizard is an interactive help utility that guides the user through each step of a particular task. Wizards can be used locally by an application, such as starting up a word processing document in the correct format for a business letter. Wizards are also useful in the on-line environment. In this on-line environment, the user is guided into the wizard by an on-line application. The on-line wizard is provided by the on-line service or application. Once the user accesses the on-line wizard, the user is presented with a series of pages according to the particular wizard steps.
The services provided by the on-line wizard provider can vary greatly. For example, many service providers exist that allow computer users to take advantage of web-based imaging services. These web-based imaging services generally involve taking an image existing on the user's PC and sending it to a remote location on the World Wide Web, through the Internet. The remote location then provides some type of service related to the image. Examples of web-based imaging services include remote storage, professional printing and photo gift creation. Once at the imaging service site, the on-line wizard guides the user through the necessary steps, such as photo selection, size, number etc.
A problem experienced by the service providers is based on the basic limitation of providing services on-line. These service providers attempt to estimate the maximum load placed on their servers by the user community. For example, for an imaging services provider, the maximum load might be expected shortly after a holiday season. Once the maximum load is estimated, the service provider can then purchase and maintain the number of servers needed to handle this load. But all of this estimation is not an exact science. If the load experienced by the service provider exceeds the maximum load that its servers can handle, the user experience can suffer.
If the load is above the maximum load capability of the servers, the system can become unstable and less reliable. As an example, if a user is at the service provider site and the system is already at or above the maximum load capability, the user is still presented with the on-line wizard for the site. Once within the wizard, the user can experience error messages, leading to a poor user experience. Given the number of options available to today's computer users, the possibility exists that the users will not return to that particular site. Continuing with the imaging services site, if the servers are in an over-loaded condition, the user may access the wizard initially, such as by a request for an indication of the pictures to be professionally printed. If the servers cannot handle the current load, the user may indicate the pictures and then wait. At some point, if a return message is not sent by the imaging service provider site, the wizard will time out and the user will see an error message.
One obvious solution to the problem is to purchase and maintain additional servers. Each server purchased adds not only the initial cost, but also the recurring maintenance costs as well. Moreover, this solution adds this expense to address an overload condition that may exist for only a short period of time.
A new system and method is needed that addresses the above-noted problems. The system and method should increase the stability and reliability of the service provided to the computer user. The user needs to experience fewer time-outs and server errors when at a service provider on-line wizard.